[Jeremy]

I notice that in the school where I work, many of the female students make a sort of sucking/smacking sound with their lips, out of the side of the mouth, while turning their head and rolling their eyes, when they’re told or encounter something they don’t like. It’s sort of a variation of ‘tut-tut,’ but much more expressive. I wonder if anybody knows how this originated or if it means or reflects anything specific, and why it’s just the girls who do it.

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Name : Jeremy, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Columbus, State : OH, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[kier26346]

I, being a high school student am guilty of this offence. For me its just a veriation on a sigh. Most of the time we dont even know we’re doning it.

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Name : kier26346, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 17, City : madison, State : WI, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Geoff21639]

This particular gesture suggests that your students are of West African ethnic descent. For example, if you come to meet any Mandinka language speakers and ask them to exhibit a ‘bisaro’ for you, you will then witness this same gesture. It is likely millennia old. Its meaning is generalized contempt for its target. In traditional West African societies it is common for men and women to ritualize certain separate expressive elements, the bisaro being one of them. I do not know exactly how this one came to reside primarily–though not exclusively–within the female province.

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Name : Geoff21639, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Mysticism (non-organized religion), Age : 42, City : Minneapolis, State : MN, Country : United States, Occupation : Information Consultant, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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